YLUPC hosted a booth at the General Assembly of the Council For Yukon First Nations at Minto Landing on June 29, 2022.
This was a great opportunity to provide information on regional land use planning and answer questions of First Nation delegates and citizens. In attendance for YLUPC was the Chair - Lois Craig, Senior Advisor - Copper Joe Jack, and new Director -Tim Sellars

The Planning Council is pleased to announce that Tim Sellars has been hired as the new Planning Director. 

Tim Sellars is a long time Yukoner, having lived in the territory since 1989, when he arrived in Whitehorse to work for the Yukon Land Use
Planning Commission on the Greater Kluane Land Use Plan. Tim went on to  work as a mapping technician, land disposition manager, land use
planner, fish & wildlife planner, and director with various departments  within Government of Yukon. Tim has most recently worked as the Senior
Planner for the Dawson Regional Planning Commission, leading the team that recently completed the Dawson Region Recommended Plan. Tim has a Bachelor of Science in Geography and a Master's degree in Public  Administration, specializing in integrated resource management.
Tim is an active participant in many Yukon pursuits, including mountain  biking, lake swimming, berry picking, coaching swimming, volunteering
with the ski patrol and playing with the Problematic Orchestra. Tim's  wife and daughter are both born and raised in Yukon and are members of
the Carcross/Tagish First Nation.

 In April of 2019, the Parties to the Yukon Forum (represented by leaders from the Government of Yukon, Yukon First Nations, and the Council of Yukon First Nations) sent the Council a series of recommendations that stemmed from their review of the implementation Chapter 11- Regional Land Use Planning.  

The focus of these recommendations is:

• Setting regional planning commissions up for success
• Supporting several regional planning commissions at the same time
• Legislative review of the First Nation and Government of Yukon regulations
• And reviewing the Adequacy of Funding for Regional Land Use Planning under Chapter 11.

Acknowledging the importance of these recommendations, the Council requested that continued meetings with the Leads of the Yukon Forum on this matter would be essential for the effective review and implementation of the recommendations.  The Yukon Forum Leads accepted this request. Council then recommended that a series of staff level workshops be held to examine in detail the Yukon Forum’s recommendations to determine how best to address them.  The Council hired Cambio Consulting to facilitate a series of workshops through the winter of 2020-21.  This report summarizes the outcome of these workshops (click here).  The Council plans to continue to work with the Yukon Forum Leads to identify which recommendations become part of the process of  producing regional plans through the implementation of Chapter 11.

On November 24th - 25th 2021 we hosted a Land Relationship Gathering. The gathering was a great success and attended by over 70 people, primarily from Yukon First Nations. We are currently working on the Proceedings and Outcome documents from that event and they will be released soon.  In the meantime, we would like to share a short video that was prepared for the event. The video is about the Yukon First Nation's history and their relationship with land planning. The video can be seen here

Stay tuned for more about this gathering.

Neil came to the Yukon in 1989 from rural Ontario. He has mostly resided in rural communities, including Burwash Landing and Haines Junction, where he worked for Kluane Park and also co-founded the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay. He owned and operated Moose Creek Lodge before settling in Mayo, where he was recognized by YG for his work implementing YESAA when he worked for EMR. He moved to Whitehorse in 2010 to work at the Yukon Water Board, and retired as the Manager of Licensing in 2020. Neil's four children are all Yukoners, which gives him "a vested interest in the sustainable development, utilization and conservation of Yukons unique lands, waters and natural resources". 

On June 15^th, 2021, the Dawson Regional Planning Commission released a Draft Land Use Plan for the Dawson region.

 “The Dawson Regional Planning Commission is very pleased to share with the public this Draft Plan, which is the result of the collaboration of many people and our planning partners over the past two years,” said Commission Chair Debbie Nagano. “This Draft Plan reflects our vision and planning philosophy, ‘On the Land We Walk Together’/ ‘Nän käk ndä tr'ädäl’.”

The Draft Plan and a Draft Plan Summary are available for viewing on this website at dawson.planyukon.ca. A backgrounder is also available there.

More information and details about the public engagement process are available on the Engage Dawson website at engagedawson.planyukon.ca.

The Dawson Regional Planning Commission has announced that they will be releasing a Draft Land Use Plan for the Dawson region to the public on June 15. The plan's release will be followed by the next phase of the public engagement steps for the Dawson region. Read full news release here...

Now and Tomorrow!

Over the last year, we have helped with the implementation of approved regional plans, helped the Dawson Commission with their ongoing planning process, and worked towards improving future planning processes. We have also set several goals for the coming year and beyond. Regional planning in the Yukon is happening!

The Council is currently exploring ways to meaningfully weave Indigenous planning concepts and traditional knowledge throughout regional land use planning processes. This work strives to uphold the objectives of Chapter 11 “recognizing and promoting the cultural values of Yukon First Nations” and “Utilizing the knowledge and experience of Yukon First Nations to achieve effective land use planning.”

In support of this effort, the Council contracted Planner Gillian McKee to do a literary review of the use of traditional knowledge in northern regional land use plans. The nine plans examined were:

Tess McLeod was appointed as our newest Council member on December 11, 2020 and is a CYFN nominee.
Tess is a citizen of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun comes to the Council with experience in environmental planning and policy in the Yukon. She holds a BSc degree in Ecology from the University of Queensland, Australia and is currently enrolled in a joint Masters of Governance and Entrepreneurship in Northern and Indigenous Areas at the University of Saskatchewan.
Her experience in fish and wildlife, and special management area planning will be an asset to the Council and we are excited to have her on board.